Al Ittihad got off to the worst possible start at King Abdullah Sports City when Al Raed, who were already relegated, opened the scoring in the ninth minute through Oumar Gonzalez.
Still in the first half, however, Al Ittihad turned the game around. In the 21st minute, Abdulrahman Al Aboud assisted Steven Bergwijn to make it 1-1, before Portugal's Danilo Pereira, assisted by Spaniard Unai Hernandez, turned the game around in the 40th minute.
Right on cue, in the 47th minute, Al Aboud made it 3-1, dispelling any doubts about Al Ittihad's early celebrations.
With this victory, Al Ittihad reached 77 points, nine more than Al Hilal, who are yet to play this round, thus mathematically securing the Saudi Arabian title with two rounds to go, as they have the advantage in the head-to-head with the team coached by Jorge Jesus.
Al Ittihad recovered under Laurent Blanc after a frustrating fifth-place finish in 2023/24, 42 points behind champions Al Hilal. The team from Jeddah took advantage of their rivals' fall, took the lead on matchday 19, and never let it go.
Even without playing in the title-clinching game, Karim Benzema is the standout performer of the campaign, with 21 goals and nine assists in 28 games. He's the second top scorer in the league, just behind Cristiano Ronaldo (23). This is the Frenchman's first title for Al Ittihad, who signed him in June 2023.